miércoles, 14 de diciembre de 2016

Trump and the National Park Service are trying to shut down Inauguration protests – don't let them win!

Dear campbell,

I am writing you to sound the alarm about an effort underway to create a free speech buffer zone that would allow Donald Trump, in the weeks following his inauguration, to ban the American people from conducting mass assembly protests against his extremist political agenda in historic spaces of Washington, D.C., including Lafayette Park and the Ellipse (both the front and back of the White House), the White House sidewalk, Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall.

On Dec. 7, the ANSWER Coalition held a joint press conference in Washington, D.C., with attorneys from the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund to expose the unprecedented and unconstitutional efforts by the National Park Service (NPS) to act as a surrogate for the Trump Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) to extinguish mass assembly protest and dissent in the weeks following Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2017, by issuing to itself, on behalf of the Trump PIC, an omnibus blocking permit in almost all the historic spaces of Washington.

We are fighting back. No matter what we are going to be in the streets in Washington, D.C., to Say NO to the Trump Agenda because the only thing standing in the way of Trump’s extremist plan to carry out mass deportations, assault the Muslim community and eviscerate women’s rights is the mobilization of huge parts of the population.

Trump wants to start shutting down free speech on Day 1 – but we are marching

The refusal to grant permits to the many groups organizing activities is creating disarray in people's plans to march on January 21. We have heard from so many people across the country who are planning to come but need to know where they can assemble and march.

Here's our response to the thousands of ANSWER constituents who are coming: We are marching!

In addition to our Inauguration Day protest on Friday, January 20 at Freedom Plaza we are marching the next day in the streets on Saturday, January 21 starting at 10:00 a.m. in front of the Trump International Hotel at 12th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW. We will then march on Pennsylvania Avenue toward Trump's White House. As other groups' plans are finalized we will coordinate joining in collective assembly.

We are not required to get a permit for a street protest on Pennsylvania Avenue because the street is under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police Department and not the National Park Service. As a result of litigation by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund over the years, the law allows us to march on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Background: How the NPS Created “fake news” to cover up their de facto ban on mass assembly protest against Trump

Through the efforts of our attorneys at the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund it has been revealed that the federal government is illegally giving the Trump Presidential Inaugural Committee, which is a private profit making entity that is soliciting tens of millions of dollars in “donations” from Corporate America, the right of first refusal to the use of all the historic public spaces not just on Inauguration Day but for weeks afterward.

Even if the Trump PIC doesn’t use these spaces they can just hold on to the permit and refuse to allow demonstrators access for mass assembly protest. And that is precisely what is happening now.

The National Park Service last week even created a “fake news” story blaming different protest groups for their refusal to issue permits to other organizations planning protests during the inaugural time period. The fake news was designed to conceal the fact that the National Park Service has issued to itself an omnibus permit on behalf of the Trump Presidential Inaugural Committee as a way of blocking mass assembly protests in the traditional areas for such activity before, during and after the Presidential Inauguration on January 20.

It would be a terrible precedent for Donald Trump to get away with quashing the free speech rights of those who wish to protest his far-right government of Generals and oligarchs. We will not let that happen. Join us in Washington, D.C., on Friday, January 20 and Saturday, January 21 to show that people of conscience will not be intimidated.

The best chance we have right now to stop Donald Trump is for the Electoral College to reject him when they meet on December 19.

Hillary Clinton won the presidential election by more than 2.8 million votes. But because of the Electoral College, originally set up to protect slave states in the late 1700s, Donald Trump is going to be sworn in on January 20 -- unless the electors refuse to let him.

Electors for each state will meet at their state capitol building on Monday, December 19 to cast their votes. They can stop Donald Trump -- but they need to hear from all of us. It will take at least 37 electors in red states to deny him the White House.

People are gathering in all 50 state capitols on Monday, December 19 to urge the electors to stop Trump. Will you join the movement and help stop a popular vote loser -- and a hateful bigot -- from becoming president?

There's been a lot of breaking news lately about electors who are trying to stop Donald Trump from becoming president:

A Republican elector in Texas, Chris Suprun, wrote in The New York Times that he will not vote for Trump: "Fifteen years ago, I swore an oath to defend my country and Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. On December 19, I will do it again."

On Monday, ten electors wrote to the Director of National Intelligence to request a briefing about reports Russia interfered in the presidential election.

And, on Wednesday, Lawrence Lessig went on MSNBC and CNN and predicted as many as 20 Republican electors could defect from Trump -- and perhaps more if momentum grows in the coming days.

There are plenty of reasons for the Electoral College to reject Trump, beyond the fact that he lost the popular vote by a landslide. Trump is assembling a cabinet of billionaires, bigots, and bullies who will help him loot the country, make inequality worse, and attack people of color. He's turning the presidency into a vehicle for his own personal profit at our expense.

Let's be clear: It won't be easy to convince at least 37 electors to reject Trump. Electors are party loyalists who rarely vote against the candidate who won their state. And the Republican National Committee is putting intense pressure on Republican electors to stand by Trump.

But we have to step up and fight to defend our rights, our democracy, and our communities. That's why we have to urge electors to do the right thing, even if the chances of success aren't great. Will you help?